The SS Turnabout
by Night Witch the Third
Summary: Phoenix and his friends and co-workers just want to relax on an all expense paid cruise. They all feel like they deserve a vacation for once. So, when a dead body turns up, it puts a damper on everyone's spirits. And when a familiar person gets accused of murder, Phoenix will have to reluctantly prove their innocence. And figure out who the real killer is before they strike again.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I randomly thought of this story while playing the downloadable mission in Dual Destinies. I've always wanted to go on a cruise, so instead I just threw all of the characters on a cruise because I've never been on one. Also, I couldn't think of a better title for this story, so we're going with "S.S. Turnabout."**

**The premise is that the bar association is having a retreat on a huge luxury cruise ship. The defense attorneys and the prosecutors get to invite a plus one and then hi-jinx ensues. There's going to be a lot of shippings in this one. Enjoy.**

**I also have to apologize to anyone hoping to see Nahyuta in this story. I've only played up to Dual Destinies and the first two missions of Spirit of Justice. I don't know him enough to put him in this story. Sorry.**

**Chapter One – The Retreat**

City Docks August 1 – Noon

Phoenix Wright led the way down the docks towards the magnificent cruise ship. The ship was one of the biggest things Phoenix had ever seen, and under normal circumstances, he and his friends would have never been able to even afford touching it. Thankfully, not only would he and his friends get to stay on this glorious ship, but they wouldn't even have to pay for it.

The Bar Association randomly decided to have all the lawyers and prosecutors take a retreat to "strengthen the bond between prosecution and defense" or something like that. Nobody really questioned it, because any excuse to take a vacation on a luxury cruise ship was alright by everyone. The best part was that everyone was allowed a "plus one," so Trucy and Maya were able to come on the trip, along with Athena's friend, Juniper.

The ship itself was several stories high, and Wright could easily imagine himself getting lost quickly in its corridors. It was pure white with a long, blue stripe painted across the entire haul. They couldn't see the name of the ship from where they stood, and the entrances were already swarmed with people.

"It doesn't look like any of the prosecutors are here yet," Maya said, looking around.

"Well, the invite said to arrive around twelve-fifteen," Nick pointed out. "I think the ship is going to be leaving shore at around one."

"Then why are we so early?" Athena wondered.

"I didn't think the bus would get us here so fast," Nick muttered, looking down at his feet.

"I can't wait to get on board!" Trucy said, hopping excitedly and grabbing onto Maya's arm. "I wonder what sort of things we'll get to see and do! Do you think they'll let me make the entire ship disappear?"

"Whoa, don't even think about it, Trucy," Nick scolded. "I don't want you turning us into a Bermuda Triangle conspiracy!" Trucy stopped hopping and frowned at him.

"I would have brought it back," she grumbled under her breath.

"I just hope the air will be good for my health," Juniper mumbled, fidgeting with her bracelet and looking worriedly up at the ship.

"You'll be fine, Junie," Athena said, slapping her hard on the back and almost sending her friend to the ground. Juniper righted herself and gave her a shy smile.

"Thanks for inviting me, Thena," she told her.

Athena grinned at her, but before she could reply, Apollo slowly and angrily appeared next to them, out of breath and looking on the verge of passing out, dragging everyone's luggage behind him. He glared at his co-workers as he unceremoniously dropped everyone's stuff at their feet.

"Thanks for nothing, guys," he growled at them. "I could have really used some help back there carrying all that, but no, it was way more important to just ignore me and walk on ahead."

"Eh, it builds character," Phoenix said with a dismissive shrug. "Besides, you agreed to carry all of our stuff for us."

"I agreed to carry Trucy's stuff," Apollo snapped. "And even then, she just kind of pawned it off on me." Phoenix shrugged again and didn't reply as Apollo narrowed his eyes at him.

As everyone started collecting their stuff, a loud screech sounded behind them. Phoenix turned in time to see a bright red sports car come speeding through the gate and he smiled to himself. Looks like Edgeworth had just arrived.

The car nearly ran through a pile of crates before screeching to a halt nearby. Wright quickly hurried over to greet his friend, who was climbing calmly out of his car, and was surprised to see Simon Blackquill in the front seat. The prosecutor/newly-released-prisoner was firmly gripping the sides of his seat so hard that he seemed to be making dents in the passenger side door handle. His face was as calm and collected as ever, and only the single bead of sweat gave away how freaked out he was by Edgeworth's driving.

"Hi Miles," Phoenix greeted his friend with a big grin on his face.

"Wright," Edgeworth replied, greeting him with a slight nod of his head. "I'm surprised to see you already here. I was expecting you to be hurrying towards the ship as it was taking off."

"Well, jokes on you, Miles," Phoenix said proudly as Apollo narrowed his eyes at the prosecutor. "Because we totally got up early today just in case."

"We took the bus," Maya added. Wright gave her a sideways glare but didn't say anything.

Athena, meanwhile, was in the process of prying Blackquill's fingers out of his death grip on the seat, as he had not moved a muscle. Juniper came over to help her, but they weren't having much luck.

Phoenix tried not to smirk at the sight and instead was about to suggest to Apollo that maybe he should help the girls out, but he barely opened his mouth when he suddenly felt his hair being ruffled by a wind and heard the distinct sound of someone breathing loudly through their mouth. He let out a sigh.

"Hello, Detective Gumshoe," Phoenix said without turning around.

Gumshoe did a couple more breaths through the mouth before responding. "Hey, Pal," he greeted. He could tell that the detective was standing directly behind him, and when Phoenix turned around, his nose was barely an inch from Gumshoe's chest.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Wright asked, tilting his head to look at him and taking a step back in the process.

"Mr. Edgeworth invited me," Gumshoe explained. "He offered me a ride here and Prosecutor Blackquill made me sit in the back."

Phoenix was about to say something else, but a loud noise in the form of a mass of screaming fan girls once again interrupted him. He let out another sigh and turned towards the source. Looked like Klavier Gavin had just arrived.

Sure enough, the rock star prosecutor was speeding down the docks on his motorcycle. He was doing some rather impressive stunts on his bike, and it was making the crowd watching him go wild. Next to Phoenix, Apollo was folding his arms and rolling his eyes.

Klavier, after pulling off a particularly dangerous looking stunt, drove closer to the group of defense attorneys and prosecutors, spotted Apollo, and promptly crashed into a nearby pole. Phoenix flinched and Maya and Apollo were already rushing over to see if he was ok.

"Are you ok, Mr. Gavin?" Maya wondered, helping him to his feet while also trying to hold in a laugh.

"What was that? You were doing so well up until a couple of seconds ago," Apollo chastised.

"I got a little…distracted," Klavier muttered, brushing himself off. "I think I'll be fine. Thank you, Fraulein." He gave them both one of his winning smiles, and Apollo rolled his eyes again at him.

"Well, if you weren't so busy showing off," he muttered under his breath.

"Nice to see you too, Herr Forehead," Klavier said in response.

Athena and Juniper had finally managed to snap Blackquill back to reality, while Phoenix, Edgeworth and Trucy were standing not too far away, having an intimate conversation. Apollo led Klavier and Maya back over to them, just in time to see an old, beat-up, ugly green car slowly and jerkily driving towards them.

The car kept making annoyingly loud sounds, speeding forward a few inches before coming to an abrupt halt. The car slowly swerved around the large pile of crates and eventually came to a sudden stop near another line of cars.

A moment later, Winston and Gaspen Payne stepped out of the car, arguing with each other about Winston's driving.

"I told you, driving stick is the only way to drive a car," Winston was saying.

"Then maybe you should actually learn how to drive stick," Gaspen growled. Winston made a high-pitched whining noise in response.

"I'll bet the Payne's didn't use their plus ones," Athena sneered, watching them. "That would require them having friends outside of each other."

"Thena, don't be mean," Juniper muttered.

"Did you invite anyone, Simon?" Athena asked, ignoring her and turning to the prosecutor.

"Of course," he replied in a dead pan tone. "I invited Taka."

Athena and Juniper blinked in surprise at him. "Your bird?" Athena asked. "Why would you invite your bird?" Blackquill shrugged nonchalantly.

"It didn't say I had to invite a human," he replied. "And anyone I would trust to take care of him is going on this trip already."

Athena was about to ask him where Taka was anyway, but then suddenly noticed the hawk resting on Blackquill's shoulder. She was pretty sure the bird hadn't been there before.

"Where did he come from?" she wondered. Blackquill gave her a look.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, scratching the bird's head. "Taka's been here the whole time."

The group stood around chatting for a few more minutes before they were interrupted by a police car pulling up to them. The police man driving looked extremely annoyed about something as he stepped out of the car, and he went around and opened the back-seat door and pulled a man out. At the sight of him, Phoenix's eyes widened with surprise and Apollo stiffened.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Apollo hissed.

Before anyone could answer, the police man angrily led the man, who had his arms and legs shackled, over to Klavier and thrust the man into the prosecutor's arms.

"Here," the police man snarled. "You deal with him!"

Klavier smiled. "Hey bro," he greeted the man in his arms. Kristoph Gavin gave him a blank look in return. "What did you do this time, Kristoph?" Klavier wondered.

"Nothing," his brother replied in a deadpan tone.

"Then why is Herr Policeman mad at you?" Klavier asked, letting him go.

"I simply made the mere suggestion that his driving was akin to a small child trapped driving in an earthquake, and that I wondered what sort of example he might be leading for the innocent people," Kristoph explained. "I guess he took it the wrong way."

"This guy criticized every bit of my driving," the police officer snarled before Klavier could speak. "He criticized my turns, my stops, which route I took, one moment I would be driving too slow, the next moment I would be driving too fast! He's your problem now. I can't take it anymore!"

Then the police officer stormed back towards his car, ranting and cursing the entire way. Kristoph watched him go with an ambivalent look on his face.

"Well, that seemed kind of harsh," he commented to his brother. Klavier sighed and shook his head at him.

Before he could reply, however, Phoenix came over and clapped a hand on Kristoph's shoulder, nearly knocking him over in the process.

"Hey, Kristoph," he greeted cheerfully, completely unable to see the death glare that the former defense attorney was giving him. "Funny seeing you here!"

"What are you doing here?" Apollo asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

"Oh, trust me, I didn't want to come," Kristoph replied calmly. "But Klavier insisted. Besides, after being cooped up in a cell for so long, it will be nice to get some fresh air." Apollo's eyes widened and he turned to Klavier, horrified, as Kristoph inched closer to Phoenix.

"Why on _earth_ would you invite your brother to be your plus one?!" he hissed at him.

Klavier gave him a gentle smile.

"Relax, Herr Forehead," he replied. "I had to invite him. He's the second most special person in my life."

Kristoph, who was raising his arms towards Phoenix, about to strangle him, suddenly whipped around to glare at his brother.

"Wait a minute," he growled. "You replaced me with-!"

"Besides," Klavier said quickly, interrupting him. "He's going to be shackled and a guard will be watching him the entire time. And I'll be here. You have nothing to worry about."

Apollo, however, did not feel very reassured by his words. It didn't help that Kristoph was giving him an evil grin at the moment. Even when he worked for him, Apollo always had the feeling that Kristoph could read minds.

Thankfully, Kristoph didn't get to smile evilly for long. Klavier's brother was going back to attempting to strangle Wright, but before he could raise his arms even a centimeter, he was being tackled by a police officer who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Apollo was pretty sure that this was the guard Klavier was talking about.

Phoenix, completely ignoring them, had turned back to Edgeworth who had been standing silently by his side. He was about to comment to Edgeworth how it was strange that his sister hadn't arrived yet, when he was interrupted by a loud and sudden screech, followed by what sounded like something crashing.

They turned in time to see a black, slick car speeding towards them, not slowing down as it plowed through the pile of crates, which practically exploded on impact. The car came to a sudden stop, but not before rear-ending the Payne's car in front of it. The car backed up, slammed into the front of a car parked behind it, then pulled forward and took off the rear bumper of the Payne's car, and the car behind it. The black car, finally stopping, didn't have a scratch on it.

"And here I thought Miles was the craziest driver," Phoenix muttered under his breath.

The car's door opened and Franziska von Karma calmly stepped out of the driver's seat. She ignored the two beat-up cars and the Paynes' looks of horror and strode over to the group with her luggage. As she got closer, Phoenix could see that she had a look of annoyance on her face, which he guessed was more from her almost being late than anything.

"It's about time you got here," Edgeworth said instead of greeting her. She glared at him.

"Quiet you," she hissed. "My alarm did not go off and I could not find my whip. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had not found it?"

"I can only dream," Phoenix said in a wishful voice. He was cut off with a sharp stab of pain as Franziska's whip made contact with him. "Ow! Don't you think it's going to be a little hard for you to get that thing on board?"

"Pah!" Franziska scoffed. "You underestimate me, Phoenix Wright. It will be super easy, barely an inconvenience."

"Goody," Phoenix muttered.

"I still can't believe we all get to go on a cruise!" Maya said, hopping up and down excitedly. "Too bad Pearly couldn't come, though. She promised to stay behind and look after the office. I'm going to buy her so many souvenirs!"

Phoenix was about to say something to her, but was once again interrupted by a familiar voice calling his name. He let out a sigh, turning towards the source. He had been hoping that Larry wouldn't find out about the cruise. But, here he was.

"Nick!" he growled, stomping over. "You're going on a cruise and you didn't think to invite me along with?"

"Sorry, Larry," Phoenix replied. "This is a bar association trip and we were all only allowed a single plus one. And I had to bring my daughter with me."

"What about you, Edgey?" Larry whined, turning to his other friend. "Why didn't you invite me?"

"Well, seeing as how Wright was already going, I decided to give my plus one to Detective Gumshoe instead," Edgeworth replied, calmly.

"Wait, what?" Phoenix asked.

"I'm guessing you already invited someone too?" Larry asked Franziska, turning to her. She gave him an unamused look.

"No," she replied. "I just don't like you."

Larry gave her a pouty look, but before he could say anything, a loud horn sounded and people started hurrying towards the ship. The group quickly gathered up their things and started towards the crew members who were checking tickets.

"Sorry, Larry," Phoenix said, picking up his suitcase. "Gotta go! We'll see you when we get back!"

Then he turned and sprinted after the others, not looking back when Larry called his name, already thinking of all the relaxing things they would get to do. For once, he wouldn't have to think about work and he could just relax. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. Could it?

**I'm going to end this chapter now because otherwise I'd just end up rambling. So, yeah, this fan fiction is going to be more on the humorous side. I brought along Kristoph because I like him and I thought it would be funny if he was here. He's mostly going to be there for deadpan comic relief. Same with Blackquill. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. It's going to be a long fan fiction, and of course, we all know stuff is going to go wrong. So, enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I want to apologize in advance if it takes forever for me to update this or any of my stories. I've been going through some terrible stuff at the moment and it's hard to find my creativity. I'm trying my best to continue updating though.**

**Anyway, in this chapter, we'll be seeing everyone's room assignments and their reactions to who their room mates are. That should be fun. Hopefully, I'll also be introducing some of the other passengers as well. I've never been on a cruise ship before, so I have no idea if anything I do is accurate. Oh well.**

**Chapter Two – Open Seas**

Cruise Ship August 1 – 1pm

Phoenix watched the shore get smaller and smaller before turning to his friends. They were all standing near the railings, also watching the ship pull away from the shore, except for Apollo, who was standing several feet away with his arms folded and looking uncomfortable.

"So, what do we do first?" Phoenix wondered.

"I think we find out our room assignments," Athena said thoughtfully. "Are we supposed to go somewhere to find out or something?" Phoenix looked at her, confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "You should already have your room assignment." Apollo, Athena, Maya and Juniper stared at him with blank looks on their faces. Phoenix stared back at them for a moment. "Oh, that's right!" he suddenly recalled. "The sign-up sheet for room assignments was at the prosecutor's office, so I went ahead and put your guys' names down for you. You're welcome."

"You gave us random room assignments without telling us?" Apollo growled.

"Well, I was going to tell you, but then I forgot," Phoenix replied, shrugging. Apollo rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Anyway, here's your room keys." Then he passed out envelopes with their names on them, completely ignoring the dirty looks his friends were giving him. "The keys should have your room number on them, and what floor we're on."

"They're called 'decks,' Mr. Wright," Athena corrected.

"Well, at least we get to share a room with each other, Thena," Juniper noted when they looked at their keys.

"Oh! I'm in a room with you two!" Maya said excitedly, throwing an arm over Athena and Juniper's shoulders. "This will be so much fun! We can talk about our favorite foods and boys and boys we like! It's gonna be great!"

Athena and Juniper's faces turned a brilliant shade of red as they both hurriedly muttered under their breaths that they _definitely_ didn't have a crush on anyone.

"Daddy and I are sharing a room with Uncle Edgeworth," Trucy said, not noticing her friends' discomfort. Athena muttered something angrily under her breath but didn't comment.

"Come on, Thena," Juniper said helpfully. "Let's go find our room. I'll bet it's lovely." Athena brightened at that.

"Great idea!" she said before turning and seizing Apollo, who had started to wander off in the opposite direction, by the arm. "Come on, Apollo!" Then she pulled him away before he could protest, leaving Juniper to hurry after them.

"Should we tell them that they left their luggage here?" Trucy asked, looking at where they had piled their suitcases.

"Eh, they'll figure it out eventually," Phoenix replied with a shrug.

The inside of the ship was just as grand as the outside. The hallways leading to the rooms were more akin to a hotel than a ship, it seemed. The walls were white and the rugs were different colors to indicate different sections of the ship. The prosecutors and defense attorneys had rooms in the A section of the ship, which was definitely first class.

Athena, Apollo and Juniper quickly got lost trying to find their rooms, but it did give them the chance to explore the ship for a bit. They passed several dining halls and a ballroom, a fitness room, a hall that led to the indoor swimming pool, a gift shop and a café in their attempts to find their rooms.

"This ship apparently has an outdoor swimming pool too," Athena noted as they passed the sign directing them towards the pool. "It's a good thing we packed our bathing suits, huh Junie?" Juniper glanced at her.

"I guess," she muttered uncertainly. "We left all our luggage with the others, though."

Athena paused and glanced back the way they came. "Oh yeah," she mumbled. "Well, hopefully Maya or Trucy will be nice enough to bring those to us."

Beside her, Apollo rolled his eyes.

"It would have been nice if there was a map or something," he pointed out, glancing around.

"I would have thought that the A section would be the easiest to find," Athena agreed.

It didn't take much longer after that for them to finally find the A section. The section had pure white walls and purple carpeting down the halls. Athena and Juniper looked around in amazement at the decorations as they made their way down the hall.

They found Athena and Juniper's rooms first. The rooms, of course, were beautifully furbished and spacious. Three beds were in each corner of the room, along with three nightstands and an old-fashioned writing desk. There was a separate bathroom and even a small kitchen area off the main area. The three of them could do nothing but gape in awe at first.

"Dibs on that bed!" Athena cried, running over to one of the beds and jumping face first on to it.

"They're all the same," Apollo pointed out as Juniper laughed. Athena didn't respond, instead pretending to have fallen asleep as soon as she had touched the bed.

"You want me to help you find your room, Apollo?" Juniper asked, a slight blush spreading on her features. Apollo turned to look at her and her blush deepened.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, shrugging.

"I'll be right back, Thena!" Juniper called to their friend before following Apollo out the door. Athena muttered something incomprehensible into her pillow in response. "So, who are you hoping to share a room with?" Juniper asked as they made their way down the hall.

"Well, ideally, I would have preferred to have a room by myself," Apollo admitted. "Or at the very least Mr. Wright would have been nice enough to let us choose our own rooms." They stopped outside a room a few doors down and took a moment to make sure they got the right room number. "Honestly, I think I'll be fine," he continued, opening the door. "As long as I'm not stuck sharing a room with-"

"Hello, Mr. Justice," greeted the exact person he didn't want to share a room with.

"Oh, God damn it," Apollo hissed under his breath.

Klavier and Kristoph were sitting on beds on opposite sides of the room, and they both turned when Apollo and Juniper came in. Klavier appeared to have been half-way through undressing, as he had no shirt on, and he was hastily putting the belt back on his pants. He had pretty much fallen over when Kristoph had spoken, and Juniper blushed and hastily turned her head away, trying not to look.

"Herr Forehead!" Klavier greeted happily, coming over to them. "You're sharing a room with mein brother and me?"

"Unfortunately," Apollo muttered, trying to ignore the fact that Klavier had not thrown a shirt back on.

Kristoph sat cross-legged on one of the beds, casting everything with a slightly amused look, his rather small trunk resting on the bed beside him. Klavier's trunk was already open with several articles of clothing already tossed casually on his chosen bed. The clothes that Apollo and Juniper could see were somehow even more casual than the outfits Klavier usually wore. Kristoph, on the other hand, was still dressed in the same formal business attire that he wore when Apollo had first met him.

"Kristoph doesn't seem to be aware that when one is on vacation, one is expected to let loose and dress more casually and comfortably," Klavier sighed, glancing over at his brother. Kristoph glared back at him.

"I am perfectly comfortable in my suits, thank you very much," he snapped at him. "And put a shirt on, Klavier! You're scaring Mr. Justice's lady friend."

Apollo and Juniper's faces reddened as they both quickly muttered something under their breaths as Klavier rolled his eyes and made his way back over to his bed. He quickly tossed on one of his more casual shirts and turned to his brother.

"Happy now?" he asked.

"Why would you ask me that?" Kristoph wondered. "I'm never happy."

Klavier ignored him and strode back over to where Apollo and Juniper still stood in the doorway. He gave a gentle smile to Juniper.

"So, Fraulein Woods, have you found your room yet?" he asked her. Juniper nodded.

"I'm sharing a room with Thena and Mr. Wright's friend, Maya," she told him, trying to keep the shyness out of her voice.

"Lucky," Apollo muttered under his breath. He glanced over at Kristoph. "Wasn't there supposed to be a guard with you to make sure you don't do anything dangerous?"

Kristoph jerked his head towards one of the more concealed walls.

"He's over there in the corner," he replied nonchalantly. The guard poked his head around the corner and waved, a stern expression on his face before turning back to stare intensely at Kristoph, hand trained on a gun.

"I don't know how I'll be able to relax with a police man body guard standing in the corner of the room like that," Apollo muttered. Kristoph gave him another one of his creepy smiles.

"Oh, don't worry," he stated. "He won't be here for very long."

The policeman blinked at him.

"Wait, what?"

* * *

Edgeworth was waiting for Phoenix and Trucy outside of their room. Phoenix smiled when he saw him and hurried his step towards.

"Hey Miles," Phoenix greeted. "Have you been waiting long?"

"For you?" Edgeworth questioned. "Never. I was helping Franziska find her room. And making sure she didn't assault anyone along the way."

Phoenix put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but didn't say anything as Edgeworth unlocked the door to their room. Like the other first class rooms, this one was beautifully decorated and lavishing.

Before Edgeworth could move or speak, both of the Wrights were shouting "Bed!" and rushing at the two nearest beds. He stared in surprise as they jumped onto the beds, bouncing around like they were in a fun house. He let out a sigh and shook his head.

"You're too old to be bouncing around on beds like children, you know," he told Phoenix, striding over to the third bed with his luggage.

"You're too old," Phoenix shot back, refusing to cease in his bouncing. Edgeworth rolled his eyes, deciding that his argument that they were the same age would fall on deaf ears. Instead, the prosecutor began unpacking his suitcase, putting his clothes in a nearby wardrobe and ignoring the two bouncing people behind him.

"This is going to be so much fun," Trucy was raving. "I can't wait to see the entire ship and the places we'll go to! Do you think they have entertainment on the ship? Do you think they'll let me perform a trick or two?"

"Whoa, slow down there, Trucy," Phoenix said gently. "Let's just work on getting settled in for now, ok?" Trucy stopped bouncing and fell to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Fine," she replied. "I hope the others found their rooms ok."

"I'm sure Athena and Juniper will be fine at least," Phoenix said. "They had Apollo with them, after all. It's Maya I'm worried about."

Edgeworth turned to him.

"You left Maya to try and find her room all by herself?" he wondered.

"No, we walked with her to her room, but we didn't actually see her walk into the room, so who knows where she ended up," Phoenix replied.

"Well, when you put it like that, it makes me think that maybe I should have stayed with Franziska a little bit longer to make sure she got along with her roommate," Edgeworth commented thoughtfully.

"Oh really? Whose her roommate?" Trucy wondered.

"Simon Blackquill," Edgeworth said simply.

"Oh dear."

"Indeed."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Phoenix and Trucy left Edgeworth to relax by himself in their room to meet up with Maya, Athena, Apollo and Juniper to explore more of the ship. The group was eager to see everything that the ship offered.

Aside from the pool, the ship had multiple restaurants and a café, a couple of bars, including one that had karaoke and a buffet room. There were a few event halls and lounges, a fitness room and even a gift shop. And that was just on the inside of the ship. The outside decks had several chairs for lounging, an outdoor bar and tiki lounge, a small outdoor pool and a shuffleboard deck. There were also celebrities and rich folk strolling around everywhere.

"This ship is so big," Athena mused, looking around in wonder. "I just hope we can find our rooms again after this!"

"There have to be maps around here somewhere," Juniper replied. "Probably in the gift shop. Too bad I can't remember where that was now."

"By the way, we're supposed to all have dinner in one of the banquet halls tonight," Phoenix said to Athena and Apollo. "It's sort of like a kick-off for the retreat or something."

"Well, I guess the bar association has to do something to justify sending us all on a cruise," Apollo replied.

"I don't have to go, do I?" Maya said hopefully. Phoenix shrugged.

"You don't have to," he told her. "But you will be missing out on all of that great food they'll have…" Maya glared at him.

"Darn you, Nick," she grumbled. "You know food is my only weakness."

"Look on the bright side, Maya," Athena sighed. "You won't have to go to any of the other boring events that we have to."

Maya let out her own sigh and muttered an agreement. She was about to ask Phoenix about the locations the ship would be stopping at during the trip, but she was interrupted by a flashing light in their faces and someone shouting.

"Maya? Nicky? Is that y'all?" asked a familiar voice. A voice that Phoenix had not heard in a long time. He blinked the stars out of his eyes and stared in surprise at the smiling face in front of him.

"Lotta?" he gasped. "Lotta Hart?"

**I'm going to end this chapter here so I can have something happen in the next chapter. I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer for this. Let me know what you guys think so far and I'll hopefully have the next chapter out faster. And hopefully more will happen next chapter as well.**


	3. Chapter 3

**If you're reading this on Archive of Our Own, then the fact that Lotta Hart just appeared should not be much of a surprise to you. If you're not, well then surprise! There's going to be more surprise characters along the way!**

**How will Phoenix react to seeing old friends? What's actually going to happen in this chapter? I have no idea! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Three – You Spin Me Right Round, Baby**

"Well, I'll be hog tied! If it ain't Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey!" Lotta Hart said as she threw her arms around the two. "How many years has it been? Eight? Yer looking great!"

"Oh, uh, you too, Lotta," Phoenix replied, a little embarrassed. Lotta didn't look any different from when he knew her from about eight years ago. He swore she was even wearing the same outfit that he first met her.

"Hey Lotta!" Maya greeted happily. "Great to see you again. I've seen some of your photos in People magazine! They're really great!"

"Thanks, hun," Lotta replied. She took a step back and finally noticed the rest of their group and the grin on her face somehow got even wider. "Well, lookie here! Y'all finally got hitched, did ya? These yer kids?"

Phoenix blinked at her in surprise before turning to look at Apollo and the others. Then he turned back towards Lotta. Then he realized what she just said.

"Wait, what?" he practically yelled. Maya just burst out laughing and Athena and Apollo exchanged confused glances. "It's only been about eight years!"

"Me and Apollo work for Mr. Wright," Athena put in helpfully. Lotta gave her a look before turning back to Phoenix.

"Yer making yer kids work for you?" she asked, disappointment clear in her voice.

"They're not my kids," Phoenix hissed through his teeth.

"Daddy!" Trucy said angrily. Phoenix flinched.

"Well, ok, she is," he replied quickly. "But not biologically. And Maya and I aren't married." Lotta let out a laugh.

"Looks like y'all got some explaining to do," she told him. Phoenix let out a sigh, completely put out. How was that Lotta could do that with little effort?

"Ok, this is Trucy, my _adopted _daughter," he explained. "That's Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes, my two young associates and Juniper Woods; Athena's friend. They're all teenagers."

"No, I'm twenty-five," Apollo growled. Phoenix turned to look at him in surprise.

"Since when?" he wondered.

"Well, I'll tell you," Lotta said before Apollo could reply. "If ya got yerself some employees, then yer starting to look like a professional law firm now, don't ya?"

"So, whatcha been up to, Lotta?" Maya asked before things got too awkward. "I definitely didn't think we'd see you here of all places."

"Same here," Lotta replied. "I'm here to get the scoop on all the celebrities on this here ship. I'll bet there's some nasty scandals going on around here, and I'm going to get all of it on my trusty camera!"

"So, you're still a celebrity photographer, huh?" Phoenix said, his hand on the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.

"Sure as sugar," Lotta said. She suddenly looked past him and her face lit up with joy. "In fact, I think I see one of them especially famous ones right now! That over there is Ruby Valadez! One of the richest and most beautiful people in the world!" She looked back at Maya and Phoenix. "We'll have to catch up later! I've got work to do! See ya later, Maya and Nick!"

Then she slunk off and disappeared into the crowd. Phoenix and his friends stared after her before he finally let out a long sigh.

"You know, I do like Lotta," he said. "But every time I talk to her, I feel like I need to take a nap afterwards. Even now, years later."

"I wish I had the amount of energy she does," Maya said, a big grin on her face.

"I wish you had less the amount of energy she does," Phoenix grumbled.

"What was with her thinking we were your kids anyway?" Athena wondered. "How young did she think we were?"

"Well, I was kind of flattered," Juniper said with a gentle laugh.

"She seemed like a fun person," Apollo deadpanned before turning suddenly to Phoenix. "Now, about that 'all of them are teenagers' comment you made…"

"Well, would you look at the time," his boss said quickly, looking at the imaginary watch on his wrist. "We should be getting back to our rooms if we want to have enough time to get ready for that dinner thing! Come along, then!"

Then he turned and quickly stalked off, leaving the rest of the group to hurry after him and Apollo to glared at his back, grumbling to himself.

* * *

Instead of actually getting ready, Phoenix immediately flopped down on his bed and told Trucy to wake him when it was time to go to dinner, promptly falling asleep. By the time he was woken up, Edgeworth was already gone.

"He said he wanted to get there early," Trucy said when Phoenix asked. "You know how punctual he likes to be."

Athena, Juniper and Maya joined them on their way to the event, having also taken too long to get ready, and the five of them promptly got lost. It took them nearly forty-five minutes of wandering around the ship before they finally found the section of the ship that had all of the event and banquet halls.

By the time they actually arrived in the right hall, the head of the bar association had just finished making his speech and was hopping off the stage to polite claps. Phoenix could see Apollo and Edgeworth sitting at a table with Blackquill, Klavier, Kristoph and Franziska with enough space for the rest of them. Apollo was sitting in between Kristoph and Klavier and was looking super uncomfortable at the seating arrangements. Phoenix let out a relieved sigh and quickly led his friends over to the table and sat down.

"Hey guys," Phoenix greeted happily, ignoring the glares he was receiving. "Did we miss anything important?"

"Only the entire opening ceremony," Franziska growled. "You're half an hour late!"

"Where have you been?" Apollo wondered. "We've all been worried about you guys."

"I haven't," Kristoph pointed out.

"We got lost," Maya said. "We were wandering around for almost forty-five minutes!" Edgeworth turned and gave her a confused look.

"How can that be possible?" he wondered. "I specifically gave Wright a map so you wouldn't get lost."

Maya and Athena stared back at him for a long moment before turning to glare at Phoenix, who gave them a sheepish grin.

"You had a map the entire time, Nick?" Maya growled.

"I didn't think we would need it," Phoenix replied. "Miles said I have no sense of direction when he gave it to me, so I didn't want to use it."

"You _don't_ have any sense of direction," Edgeworth said, shaking his head. "That's why I gave it to you. That and this ship is massive and easy to get lost in." Phoenix gave him another grin and he let out a sigh. "You're hopeless," he muttered under his breath.

"So, how is everyone settling in so far?" Athena asked after a moment, trying to make conversation.

"This one," Franziska hissed suddenly, pointing at Blackquill, "is absolutely ridiculous!"

"What is so ridiculous about having a separate bed for my guest?" Blackquill replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

"When your guest is a bird, it's absolutely insane!" the female prosecutor spat at him.

"What are you two going on about now?" Edgeworth asked with a sigh.

"I figured since it would just be the two of us in our room, I could use the third bed to put all my stuff on, at least until I finished unpacking," Franziska growled. "But he wouldn't even let me even sit on the extra bed, let alone put my stuff on it!"

"Taka needs his space," Blackquill replied dismissively. "I'm sure you wouldn't like it if someone started putting all of their things on your bed."

"This Taka is a bird," Franziska pointed out, throwing her hands in the air.

"You two get an extra bed?" Phoenix wondered. "For the two of you?"

"No, Taka's there too," Blackquill said, completely serious. "And he called dibs on the other bed. What, did you think that he was going to sleep on a perch or something?"

"Yes!" Franziska snapped. Blackquill rolled his eyes at her and didn't reply.

The entrées had already come out and nobody said anything for a while as they all concentrated on eating. The food was amazing, of course. Just what one would expect from a luxurious, five star cruise liner. It was certainly something Phoenix could get used to, he decided. And judging by the looks of his friends, he could tell they were thinking the same.

They were half-way into their meal, making small talk and trying not to say anything that would restart Blackquill and von Karma's argument when two men suddenly approached the table. One was a scrawny, yet stern looking young man with dark hair and hazel eyes while the other was obviously the captain of the ship. He had a white beard and had a slight girth to him; he almost looked like Santa Claus disguised as a sailor.

"Greetings, defense attorneys and prosecutors," the Captain greeted them. "I hope you're all enjoying your stay so far." Everybody muttered or grumbled in the affirmative. "I'm the captain of this ship. I'm honored to be standing in the presence of such famous attorneys such as yourselves."

"You've heard of us?" Athena asked, perking up excitedly.

"Oh yes," the Captain replied, nodding. "My cousin has told me all about the exciting legal battles that go on in his courtroom. I've read about them in the papers, of course, but my cousin said he presided over nearly all of Mr. Wright and company's cases."

"Cousin?" Phoenix repeated. "You're related to the judge?"

"Why yes," the Captain said proudly. "How do you think the Bar Association managed to secure tickets for this cruise in the first place? It's quite easy when you're related to the captain! Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"I didn't know our judge had such a wide range outside the courthouse," Maya said in a low voice to Phoenix. "I just thought they put him in a storage room or something when the court was over for the day."

"What are you talking about, Maya?" Phoenix hissed quietly. "Don't you remember when we ran into him while taking that train? He and Gumshoe were on the same train as us."

"Oh yeah!" Maya giggled after a moment of thought.

"You'll have to give your cousin our thanks for pulling this off for everyone," Apollo told the Captain. "It really is a nice ship." The captain chortled in response.

"You can thank him yourself," he said. "He's on this ship himself!"

The entire table turned to look over to where the Captain was gesturing, only to see the _seemingly one and only_ judge in the _entire city _looking up from his own table and waving happily at them. He was sitting with Gumshoe, Marvin Grossberg, his Canadian brother and the Payne brothers.

"How come we didn't notice him before?" Athena wondered mostly under her breath.

The scrawny man standing beside the captain was standing rigged and unmoving, but suddenly jumped when the captain slapped him hard on the back, nearly throwing him to the floor with his hearty pat.

"This here is my first mate," the captain introduced. "Skipper Bridge. If any of you have any problems, you can come immediately to him and he'll fix it for you."

Skipper Bridge looked more like he would rather do anything else than try to fix any sort of complaint he got, but he nodded anyway. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a loud, screeching noise that came from the walkie-talkie on his hip. He let out an annoyed sigh and pulled it off of his belt.

"What is it now, Oldbag?" he sighed. Whoever was on the other end must have been screaming because it only came out as indistinguishable noise. Bridge must have understood it though, because he let out another sigh. "No, they're allowed to go there, they're guests," he growled into the walkie-talkie. More noise responded. "That's the cleaning crew. They're allowed to be there too. Look, it's only day one. If you're going to cause this much trouble, I can always move you to a lower level…Ok, good."

He turned off the radio and turned back to the table with a hiss.

"Sorry about that folks," he apologized. "Head of security. Thinks that everyone who even walks funny is up to something. I don't know why I even bother sometimes."

"This head of security sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it," Phoenix mused to himself. Next to him, Edgeworth felt a cold chill run down his spine.

The captain and first mate moved on from their table to go greet the guests at the next table. Not long after that, waiters started bringing desserts to each table. Plates of crème brulée were placed in front of each of them and most of them took a moment to admire the dessert.

"Ah, burnt cream," Blackquill said in a deadpan tone. "Delicious."

"Really, Simon?" Athena sighed, giving him an annoyed look. The prosecutor simply gave an uncaring shrug in reply.

Phoenix stared down at the dessert for a long moment, savoring its smell and appearance. He had never had anything this fancy before and he wanted to relish the moment for as long as possible. Though, once he thought about it, he didn't even know which utensil he was supposed to eat this thing with.

Glancing around, he watched Franziska violently stabbing her dessert with her utensil, but she was slamming it up and down so fast that Phoenix couldn't tell if she was using a fork or a spoon. Athena and Apollo looked just as lost as he did and Maya had lifted the bowl up to her face and was simply sticking out her tongue and licking it. Desperate, Phoenix glanced at Edgeworth, only to find his friend staring back at him; his hands folded neatly in his lap and a sort of amused expression on his face, almost like he was waiting for Phoenix to make the first move.

Narrowing his eyes at him, Phoenix slowly reached for his own utensils. Edgeworth's expression didn't change, but he let out a noise that sounded like a cough or a short laugh when Phoenix's hand hovered over the fork. Phoenix paused before reaching for a spoon and the small grin on Edgeworth's mouth widened a centimeter.

"You're impossible," Phoenix grumbled before seizing up the knife.

"You need a dessert spoon," Edgeworth informed him in a pleasant voice.

Phoenix glared at him, muttering "Damn it, Miles," under his breath. He reached over for what he was pretty sure was the dessert spoon, when his hand slipped and he knocked it onto the floor. With a sigh, Phoenix quickly bent over to pick it up.

When he finally sat back up, he found a fork deeply embedded in the back of his chair that he was pretty sure was not there when he had first bent over. Glancing across the table in confusion, he saw Kristoph glowering at him, his hand in the process of being retracted from a throwing position and one of his forks missing. Apollo was leaning away from his former mentor, staring at him in wide-eyed fear and Phoenix was positive there were angry blue flames radiating from the ex-attorney.

"Damn," Kristoph sneered. "I missed."

**I'm going to end this chapter here because I wanted to get another chapter out soon and I have nothing more. Hopefully it was funny enough that it helped get you through some of the exposition. I just hope that nothing sounds too clunky and you could make out what was going on, especially at the end. Next chapter, we'll have some more exciting things happen and we can start to see scenes with other characters. That will be fun.**


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